Cannot boot into Windows 10- Safe Mode and Repair Windows Install

[Hardwarebird]

Alright, so my cousin's computer will not boot into Windows 10. He said one day he just turned it on, and he got some error message or something, then he pressed something, and it has been not working ever since. I have tried a couple different things, but nothing works so far.

The Windows logo starts to load, and then things are just black. I feel like it may be a graphics card driver problem or something, but I really do not know. (I installed a rx 460 a few months ago. The computer was built end of 2013).

I want to boot into safe mode, but whenever I try (through advanced boot options), I just get a slow flashing black screen. I want to get in safe mode to work with the display adapters in device manager.

I tried "startup repair", which didn't do anything. I also tried sfc/scannow in command prompt- which didn't work.
There are no system restore points or system image files for me to use.

Since I can't get into Safe Mode, I am wondering if I should do a repair install of windows. I do not want to do the Reset this PC because it says it will remove all programs that didn't come with the PC (my cousin doesn't want all his minecraft worlds deleted).
Should I do a Repair Windows Install, (where no files or programs get deleted)? How do I do that if I should? Or should I just do the Reset this PC?

With all this information, does anyone have an idea of what is probably wrong and what I need to do? Ask me if things are not clear or if you have questions.

 

[RealBeast]

You can try a startup repair from your installer stick.

Next choice would be a repair install.

If that fails, I can explain how to use a Mint USB OS to start it and access all the data to then do a clean install, but that is unlikely.

 

[Hardwarebird]

You can try a startup repair from your installer stick.

Next choice would be a repair install.

If that fails, I can explain how to use a Mint USB OS to start it and access all the data to then do a clean install, but that is unlikely.

Ok, thanks. Sorry, but what is an installer stick?

 

[RealBeast]

You can make one by either downloading from Microsoft HERE and read the section on "using the tool to create installation media," which walks you through making a USB stick or DVD installer. That is what you need.

If you already have an image, you can also use Rufus to create installation media.

 

[Hardwarebird]

So I tried a startup repair from the Windows installer usb.
It said "Startup Repair Couldn't Repair Your PC". The log file is: E:\WINDOWS\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt

Does this mean I should now do a repair install? How do I do that?
I started an install from the usb, but after selecting the option "Upgrade", I get a Compatibility Report. I'm not sure if I'm doing things correctly.

 

[Colif]

don't you have to be in windows 10 to do a repair install?

I would suggest something like this to copy the files your cousin wants to save off PC and then fresh install: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

 

[RealBeast]

Yes, you must be in Windows (and not in safe mode) to do a repair install, aka an inplace install so the OP probably cannot do that as they seem to be at a black screen.

It is trivial to build a Mint Live USB stick using Unetbootin, boot from it mount the drive and save the data, and then just do a clean install after saving all data.

 

[Hardwarebird]

I'm sorry, but I'm a little unclear as to whose directions I should follow. Should I do Colif's suggestion of going into Ubuntu, or the Unetbootin RealBeast is talking about?

 

[Colif]

follow realbeast, I was just helping

 

[Hardwarebird]

follow realbeast, I was just helping

You don't think I should follow the article you sent me?

 

[Colif]

i am unlikely to be here much longer so if its clear to you what to do from article, go right ahead, but I just may not be here to answer any questions. Hence why i suggested Realbeast

 

[Hardwarebird]

Ok, so this is weird. More problems, of course. I used the UNetbootin tool Realbeast suggested, and using the distribution, I made a bootable Ubuntu flash drive. It wouldn't load Ubuntu on the PC. It would just stay stuck on the "Load Ubuntu without installing". I then deleted the stuff on the flash drive and downloaded the Ubuntu .iso from their website and used UNetbootin to make another bootable drive from that .iso file. I booted to the flash drive on another computer, so I know it works. However, it won't proceed to Ubuntu on my cousin's computer.

 

[RealBeast]

We are both telling you to do the same thing, use a Linux build to boot from a Live version (i.e. from a USB stick or CD) -- not to install to the computer We just suggested different flavors, Mint or Ubuntu and both will work fine.

That the computer will not boot from the stick may indicate a hardware problem (other than the HDD, as that is irrelevant to this Live boot). Try some other USB ports, particularly try one on the back motherboard panel, as his front USB ports could be an issue. I f that fails, move on to hardware troubleshooting.

Assuming all efforts to Linux Live boot fail, I would remove the HDD and attach it to another computer to get the data from it (then give a stern warning about backing up data). Then the hard part starts if you don't have a pile of parts sitting around like some of us, troubleshooting for the defective part.

Next step to test as few of the subsystems as possible would be to run Memtest86, free from HERE. If that runs, does it indicate errors?

Give us some details on the hardware model(s). If you have onboard graphics, use it and pull the add in card out. Also, remove all but one stick of memory and try swapping those.

 

[Colif]

So I tried a startup repair from the Windows installer usb.
It said "Startup Repair Couldn't Repair Your PC". The log file is: E:\WINDOWS\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt

This error can happen if you are booting from a USB stick, and your BIOS supports a given USB slot, but the windows Repair Environment does not. So I would suggest you to try a different USB slot and check if similar issue occurs.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-update/dsystem32logfilessrtsrttrailtxt-and-0xc000021a/e6ba43d6-24c7-4f72-9087-2ed303a03f53

Using the win 10 ISO to boot from, try this
1. Insert the Windows 10 USB and restart your computer
2. Boot from the DVD or USB.
3. Choose your language and click next.
4. Click Repair Your Computer
5. choose troubleshoot
6. choose advanced
7. choose command prompt
type the following commands in (One at a time)
bootrec /fixMBR
bootrec /fixBoot
bootrec /rebuildBCD

most times I seen this error it required a reinstall to fix.

 

[Hardwarebird]

Thank you all for your replies. I tried Colif's suggestions in the command prompt, which gave me the the message "Total identified Windows installations: 0", after the bootrec /rebuildbcd command. So I followed this article (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_install/total-identified-windows-installations-0/52359f87-de4a-41dc-b0c3-cc275e1d9fbf) to successfully rebuild the BCD. I ended up with the message that said I did have a windows installation. However, after restarting, I still get the black screen.

I tried the Ubuntu stick in different USB ports, only to come to the flashing underscore each time. So I am starting to feel like it could be a hardware problem. Should I run Memtest86 first? What sort of tests should I run to troubleshoot each part?

 

[Colif]

its odd you can get into the win 10 iso and try to rebuild BCD but you cannot boot off the ubuntu USB, are they both on USB? If you using a DVD for windows, perhaps try making DVD for ubuntu

have you tried taking hdd out of PC and putting it in yours as a secondary drive (Not booting off it) and copy anything you want to save off it there? it would also tell you if drive works too and you could run the trial version of http://www.hdtune.com/ on it at same time - hard to test hdd without windows
Run memtest86 on ram
screen works so I don't think its GPU related.

 

[Hardwarebird]

Ok, so I have it fixed now. I took the video card out and used integrated graphics, so it wasn't the card. I ran memtest, no errors.

Then I decided to do the "Reset this PC" that I mentioned in the original post. I didn't do it earlier in fear of losing files. Anyways, it fixed windows, and the computer now boots to normal. Some things, such as Minecraft saves, were deleted but that is ok. At least now it is working again. Thanks for the suggestions!